San grunts as he drops the front leg of the large buck him and Mingi managed to take down on their own. He turns his head behind him and snorts as he sees Jongho and Hongjoong struggling to do the same.

Even without a pack link, the four alphas were able to communicate and hunt two large bucks on their own. Hongjoong voiced his concern about their food supply before the group departed, having eight people in one house, they needed to make sure they had enough food in the off chance it snowed unexpectedly and they ran out. Mingi agreed, and Jongho and San nodded as they set out to hunt.

Putting the two shortest and the two tallest alphas together proved to be a smart strategy, Mingi and San were able to use their long legs to overpower the buck they were hunting, and Jongho and Hongjoong used their speed to keep up with theirs.

Mingi huffed out in approval at their hunt, and they started to make their way back to the house, the alpha in question wanting to make it home to his pregnant mate as soon as possible.

But everyone stops dead in their tracks when they hear a loud, defending yowl.

Jongho, what is that? A cat? Why is it so loud? San worryingly asks through their link.

Jongho stands next to him, a low growl in his throat as his instincts fight to protect his future mate.

Close. Mountain Lions.

Mingi growls as three figures come out the forest, surrounding the group. Hongjoong stands over one of the bucks, bearing his teeth and snarling at the newcomers.

The lead lioness, slim and lean, yowls once again as she circles Mingi. Before Jongho can even blink, she charges at Mingi, latching onto the back of his neck and he swings to get the lion off his neck. Hongjoong roars and runs forword to rip the attacker off Mingi, but he yelps as another lion crashes into his side and he's thrown into his own fight.

San's eyes go red as he watched the final lion charge for Jongho, and every ounce of hate his wolf has for Jongho disappears as San grips his jaws onto the tail of the lion and drags her away from his alpha.

His opponent quickly whips her head around to bite at San, but she's caught off guard as Jongho grabs the back of her neck and she slumps in his hold.

The lead lioness senses her companion's distress, and jumps off Mingi as she charges for Jongho. The alpha makes a quick decision to toss the lion in his mouth to the side, and the leader stops dead in her tracks and she makes a run for her companion. The other lion follows suit, leaving Hongjoong alone and she runs over to check on her friend.

San quickly licks Jongho's face and rubs himself over his fellow alpha, a content rumble coming out of his chest as he realizes Jongho is okay.

Mingi checks over Hongjoong's wounds, and once the group as deemed their alright after the attack, they turn their attention back to the group of lions huddled near a tree.

Mingi growls and shifts, quickly pulling on shorts as the lead lioness does the same, pulling on a long dress as she stares Mingi down, her companions standing on guard next to her.

"What do you want, Soyeon? What the hell was that for?" Mingi says, with venom drenching every word as he stares the woman down.

"You're hunting on our land. I felt as if my family was in danger and I acted on it. You know the rules." She says back to him, with just as much hate.

"This is unclaimed land, free for us to hunt on. You're full of shit and you know it." One of Soyeon's companions swipes her paw at Mingi, but Soyeon raises her hand and the lion stands down.

"That might apply for your kind, but not for us. Those bucks belong to me, as far as I know, consider it an apology for making me come all the way out here and fight you mangy mutts. So you either pay up in more blood, or hand them over."

Hongjoong roars at her statement, but Mingi his hand on the other alphas back, probably speaking through their link and makes Hongjoong calm down.

"I can't do that. I hunted these fair and square, took them down and dragged them all the way here. I still have a family to feed, not that you care. I can give you one, that's it." Soyeon visually is displeased with Mingi's words, but she snaps her fingers and her two companions grab one of the bucks, dragging it away from the wolves with a snarl. "Lia, Minji, take the buck back to the house. Don't wait for me either." The lionesses nod their heads, and start to drag away Mingi and San's buck into the forest.

"Next time, I won't be so forgiving. You better start taking me seriously, or bad things will happen." Even with their drastic height difference, Soyeon stares Mingi down like she's 6'5, and Mingi towers over her with the same intimidating look.

"Get lost, cat." Mingi snarls as Soyeon leaves, following her companions without another word.

Jongho immediately shifts once he senses the lions are gone, and the other two alphas follow shortly after.

"Who the hell were they? What did she mean we hunted on her land?" Jongho visibly starts panicking, but once San starts to rub his neck in a comforting manner, Jongho calms and manages to control his breathing.

"You probably guessed, but they're mountain lions. Wolves are mostly male, and we still have females, but mountain lions are the opposite. The classes are different too, I believe instead of alphas, omegas and betas, they have deltas, sigmas and zetas. That was the delta of the pack of lions that lives close to here, Soyeon."

"But this is unmarked land? I don't sense it belonging to anyone else." San's obvious confusion amuses Mingi, and he chuckles. "Lions have a different way of living then us. She believes this is her forest, along with the game that lives inside it. I make a point not to hurt here, as to not set her off, but this forest has the best prey, and with four extra mouths, I made a hard decision." Mingi rubbed the back of his neck where Soyeon latched onto him and groans, "She got me good, but I'm alright. Please don't tell the omegas or Yunho about this, we'll cause them more worry then we have too. I'll just remember not to hunt here again unless we're on the brink of starvation."

Jongho and San nod, "We should get this buck back to the house, as much as I wanted to keep both, this one should hold us for a while." Hongjoong sighs and walks back into the trees to shift, and Mingi follows suit.

Jongho and San shift back into their wolves, and as San shakes out his almost white fur, his wolf yelps as Jongho runs himself against his body, a low purr coming out of his chest.

Great, they're being hunted by an entire pack town AND there's pissed off lions somewhere in the mountains. We really set ourselves up. San huffs out in his link to Jongho, making the younger alpha chuckle and run his neck against San.

We'll be fine. The house is safe, and they believe our story as far as I can tell. We can fight off a couple house cats. Jongho snorts, and disconnects himself from San just as Mingi and Hongjoong come trotting out of the words.

The wolves once again start their trek back to the house, returning with only one deer instead of two.

Once they cross the pack border, Yunho comes running out of the house, throwing himself on Hongjoong's wolf as the alpha rumbles in happiness of having his beta close to him again, licking the tall beta's face.

Yeosang sits on a porch swing, smiling as Mingi shifts and comes to sit with him and rub his tummy.

The last to leave the house is Wooyoung and Seonghwa. Wooyoung walks up to Jongho and pets behind the alphas ears as he sits on the ground, his wolf now being eye level with Wooyoung.

Even though San knows it's just for show, Seonghwa wraps his arms around his wolves neck and squeezes, giving him a tight hug. San snorts and returns best he can, licking Seonghwa's face as the omega clearly displaces his disgust in a frown.

Eventually, the three alphas finally shift, and Hongjoong and Mingi drag the buck into the barn to begin skinning and cutting up the meat.

Jongho groans and stretches his muscles, hissing as one of the scratch marks on his back open slightly.

Wooyoung frowns and he examines the wound, "Jongho, what happened to your back? Are you alright?"

San freezes as he realizes Mingi told them not to speak of the lions, and he quickly answers for Jongho. "It's nothing, we were playing around and I was little too rough and got his back. He's fine, right Jongho?"

"Y-Yeah, nothing to worry yourself with. I'm fine." Jongho can tell Seonghwa doesn't buy their story, but he doesn't comment on it further.

"Dinners ready! I know you're all exhausted, so come eat." Yeosang calls for them from the porch, Mingi following him close behind as they enter the house with Hongjoong and Yunho not far behind, deer steaks and other cuts of meat piled high in bowls.

Seonghwa grabs San's hand, almost dragging him inside while Jongho and Wooyoung watch and laugh.

The two remaining members start to walk towards the house, and Jongho takes this time to talk to Wooyoung one on one. "Do you like it here, Woo?"

The omega is stunned by Jongho's question, but answers nonetheless. "I do, Yeosang and Yunho are nice. And Mingi and Hongjoong don't seem like bad alphas. It's nice not sleeping outside too. Just don't tell Seonghwa I told you that, he doesn't really like it here."

"How come? I think it's fine here, so do you and San. What's up with him?" Jongho glances down at the small male, and he can see Wooyoung internally battling with himself on what to say. "We've been through a lot, and Seonghwa has a strong dislike for alphas, that's all. Where we come from..it was a lot." Jongho can tell Wooyoung is getting distressed talking about their past, so he pulls the shorter male into his side for a hug.

"You don't have to say anything else, Woo. I believe you, you wouldn't lie to me."

For whatever reason, Wooyoung tenses in Jongho's hold.

"Yeah, I wouldn't."

***
Written by sueoku